Applesauce in the Crock Pot

JP and I made applesauce today in the large crock pot. I love my crock pot. See the previous post on my love/hate relationship I have my my crock pots. It's an all day affair and Jacob loves it. There's an easy way to make it, and a hard way. The hard way isn't so hard, but of course, we had to do it the hard way, which is a little messier than the easy way. I'll give directions for both.


Crock Pot Applesauce (the Easy Way)


6 pounds of apples
1 T. cinnamon
1 T. vanilla

Core, peel and quarter the apples. Place in a large crock pot. Sprinkle the apples with vanilla and then sprinkle the cinnamon on top. Cover and cook on high for 6-8 hours. Every 1-2 hours, stir the apples. When the apples are tender after 6-8 hours, mash with a potato masher for a chunky applesauce. For a smooth applesauce, use a food mill.


This applesauce has no added sugar, so you may find it a little tart. You can add sugar or honey to taste, if needed. Store the applesauce in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the applesauce in small freezer containers and thaw when needed.

Crock Pot Applesauce (The hard way)

6 lbs. apples (I used Jonathan)
1 T. cinnamon
1 T. vanilla

Quarter the apples and place them in a large crock pot (seeds, skin and all!) Sprinkle the vanilla over the apples and top with cinnamon. Cook on high for 6-8 hours, stirring every 1-2 hours. When the apples are tender, spoon the cooked apples into a food mill and grind, scooping out the seeds and skin occasionally. After the apples have been run through the food mill, store in the refrigerator, or the freezer, depending on your needs.

Warm applesauce and ice cream!  YUM!

Crock Pot Roast

I have a love/hate relationship with my crock pot.  Well, my crock pots.  I have 3.  I love that I can just throw ingredients in the crock pot and forget about it.  But I hate that if I don't plan it right, it takes a long time to cook.  I love that I can have serve hot appitizers and they stay warm (as long as I leave the crock pot turned on/plugged in.)  But I hate that meat becomes so overcooked that it shreds when I try and cut it....which is a good thing for some recipes, but not so good for others.  I love that I can throw in apples and it a few hours, I have applesauce.  I love that during the summer, I don't have to turn on the oven, but I hate that when a crock pot is on for many hours, it still heats up my kitchen.  I could go on and on, but I guess that over all, I love my crock pot...  ok, crock pots.

I made a roast in the crock pot a few days ago.  It's yummy, it's easy, it's wholesome, and the whole family loved it.

Crock Pot Roast
1 3-4 pound roast (any kind...I usually buy the cheapest roast I can find)


1 packet Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing mix
2 T. dry Ranch salad dressing mix
1/2 c. flour
1 beef bullion cube, crumbled
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed


1-1/2 c. water
1 c. white wine
1 can crushed tomatoes, undrained

4-5 potatoes, peeled and quartered
4-5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/3rds
1 onion, cut into 1/8ths, or 5-6 pearl onions, peeled
1/2 cabbage, cored and cut into 2 pieces (optional)


Spray the crock pot with non stick cooking spray.  Trim the roast of excess fat and place in crock pot.  Mix the Italian and Ranch mixes together with the flour, bullion cube, onion and garlic.  Add the water, wine and crushed tomatoes.  Mix well.  Pour over the roast.


Cook on medium for 4-5 hours.


Remove the roast from the crock pot.  Add the potatoes, carrots, onion, and cabbage (if using) to the liquid.  Place the roast on top of the veggies.  Cook on high 3-4 hours, or until fork tender.  Remove the roast and slice into pieces.  Serve with the cooked veggies and the "gravy."  Enjoy~

Review:  JP told me that the roast was the best roast ever.  Enough said.

Tator Tot Casserole

I love Tater Tot Casserole.  It is the ultimate comfort food for me.  It's easy to make and it's yummy!  My mum had gotten the original recipe in a recipe exchange 35 years ago.  I've changed it up a little bit and have made it a little healthier.  The first few times I made it for Jeff many moons ago, I didn't use corn in the TTC (we're a family of abbreviations!  TTC = Tater Tot Casserole.) but served corn with the meal and Jeff suggested to add it to the casserole.  I've made TTC with corn ever since!

Tater Tot Casserole

1 pound ground beef (I use 97%)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 T. Worcestershire sauce


1 can cream of mushroom soup (I use Campbell's Healthy Choice)
1 can corn, well drained
5 slices of American cheese
68 Tater Tots


Preheat the oven to 325*.

In a non-stick pan, brown the hamburger with the garlic and onion.  Cook until the beef is no longer pink and the onion is translucent.  Drain.  Add the Worcestershire sauce and mix well.  Spread the beef mixture in the bottom of a greased 9x9 inch pan.  


Place the slices of cheese on top of the ground beef.  Place four slices close together and fold the 5th slice into 4 long rectangles.  Fit those pieces around the empty edges.


In a small bowl, mix the cream of mushroom soup and drained corn together.  Spread on top of the sliced cheese.

Arrange the Tater Tots on top of the corn mixture.


Bake 45 minutes at 325*.  The TTC should be bubbly.

Enjoy~

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad

So here it is, September 16...and I haven't blogged since August!  Ack!  Well, school has started and I am beyond busy.  I am taking two classes this semester (my LAST TWO CLASSES!) along with teaching two classes.  My students are seniors in college and I am teaching them how to teach Language Arts in elementary school.  Fun!  :)  I love teaching my students...they are like little sponges soaking up all I have to say about reading, writing, and the 4 other areas of language arts.  Do you know the components of Language Arts?  I've given you two...can you come up with 4 other components?  No cheating! (But they're listed at the bottom on this post!)

allnaturalannie.com

So onto Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad.  I love it.  Several years (more like 15 years ago) ago I got a recipe booklet from L.L. Bean.  They had 6 or 8 recipes on a foldout like booklet from employees.  One of them was for a Broccoli Salad.  The original salad contained a pound of bacon, a cup of mayo and 2 cups of cheddar cheese.  I've changed the recipe (haha, no surprise there!)

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad


1 medium-sized broccoli bunch, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 medium cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 medium onion, finely diced
2 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/3 c. shredded cheddar (I used 2%)
1/4 c. sunflower seeds
1/3 c. raisins
1/3 c. craisins


1/3 c. mayo (I used lite Hellman's)
1/3 c. plain, fat free yogurt
1/3 c. Splenda
1/3 c. white vinegar


In a large bowl, mix the cauliflower and broccoli pieces.  Add the onion, bacon, cheddar, sunflower seeds, raisins and craisins.  In a small bowl, mix the mayo, yogurt, Splenda and vinegar together.  Whisk well.  Pour the dressing over the broccoli and cauliflower mixture.  Mix well and refrigerate.  Stir before serving.

You can easily double this recipe.  I've scaled this recipe down because JP and I are the only ones who like the salad...using a whole cauliflower and 2 heads of broccoli make a LOT of salad!  Feel free to use sugar or honey instead of the Splenda and regular mayo instead of the lite.  Also, you can use all raisins or all craisins...or whatever you like! 

Enjoy~


Language Arts consists of reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, visual representation

Blueberry Muffins

The boys and I are in the Kansas City area this weekend for a big Geocaching picnic.  Since we would be eating many meals out during our time away, we decided to bring our own muffins, yogurt and fruit (our hotel doesn't have a free breakfast.  boo.)  This is the second time I've made these blueberry muffins and this recipe is a "make again." I found the original recipe in King Arthur's Flour 100th Anniversary cookbook, and also on their website. (King Arthur's Flour basic muffin recipe)  I changed it up a little bit (does that surprise you???)  Enjoy~

Blueberry Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup fat free, plain yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 egg

1 egg white

1 t. vanilla

1-1/2 c. blueberries

Preheat your oven to 500°F.

Blend together the dry ingredients as long and as vigorously as you want.

Beat the liquid ingredients together -- yogurt, oil, vanilla, and eggs -- until they are light. If you have a 2-cup liquid measure (one with a lip above the 2-cup mark) it makes mixing the liquid ingredients very easy.

Spoon the blueberries into the flour mixture and mix until the blueberries are coated with flour.  This will help the blueberries stay afloat in the batter and not sink to the bottom while baking.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Take a fork or wire whisk and blend the two for 20 seconds -- no more! The secret to light and tender muffins lies in this final blending. It's OK if you've left some lumps that look as if they want more stirring; they really don't. So, no matter how hard it is, resist the impulse.

Fill cups of a lightly greased muffin tin two-thirds to three-quarters full. Place muffins in the oven and immediately drop temperature to 400°F*. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until muffins test done. Yield: 12 muffins, 24 mini-muffins, or six "crown" muffins.

Penzeys

If you've read my blog for any time, you'll have noticed that I use (and talk about) Penzeys spices.  I LOVE PENZEYS!

I remember going home to visit my mum when I was in my mid 20's during the summer.  She wanted me to help her make Bread and Butter Pickles, but she couldn't find enough little jars of mustard seed in the grocery store.  (This was way before Google and the ease of online shopping.)  I had a friend who had ordered spices through a catalog, so I called my friend (who was living in Germany) and asked her for the telephone number for that spice catalog.   I called the number and talked to a very nice lady.  She questioned the amount of mustard seed that I requested...after all, it's not everyday that someone orders 3 pounds of mustard seed to make a batch of pickles.  But I went ahead and ordered 3 pounds...I even contemplated ordering 4 pounds!  I am horrible about estimating, and WAY overestimated how much mustard seed we would need.  My mum was a little surprised a few days later when the package from Penzeys showed up.  Do you know how many mustard seeds are in 3 pounds?  I don't know either, but it is a lot!  You can get an idea of how small mustard seeds are by looking at the necklace below...now just imagine 3 pounds of mustard seed!  WOW! 

After that mishap with the mustard seeds, I became a Penzeys convert.  I started receiving the catalog in the mail.  I experimented with the recipes in the catalog and began ordering different spices to try.  Years later, I'm still a Penzeys convert.  I look forward to the catalogs that I still get in the mail.  I cut out the recipes and have them in my file box.  I have always been impressed with the quality of spices that I get from Penzeys.  They are fresh and taste better than the ones you can buy at the grocery store.  They are a little bit more expensive than what you pick up at Walmart, however, the taste and the over-all result is out of this world!  I often visit their website to see what's new and to order online.  www.penzeys.com  And I even get to visit one of their stores occasionally! 

JP drawing Cayenne Pepper

A few weeks ago, we traveled to Iowa to visit my in-law family.  On the way there, we stopped in Omaha to visit the Penzeys store.  There is something heavenly about walking through the door of a Penzeys store!  A spicy-peppery smell meets you at the door and penetrates your clothing, so when you leave, you get a slight whiff of the store smell throughout the day.  The staff has always been friendly and eager to help.  Even JP loves to go there!  There is a small kids area and JP draws pictures that he can hang on the wall. 

JP next to the Cayenne Pepper display

If you ever have a chance, please visit the store, the website or just browse through the catalog.  You'll be glad you did!

JP and his Cayenne Pepper drawing

Just in case you didn't get it the first time, I LOVE PENZEYS!

www.penzeys.com